


how to stop an assassination (and all the ways it can ruin your life)

by YouDontRememberTheSomme



Category: 11.22.63
Genre: Fix-It, It gets explicit toward the end, M/M, of sorts, you’ve been warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:28:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22910992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouDontRememberTheSomme/pseuds/YouDontRememberTheSomme
Summary: The institution was a dreary place, the polar opposite of where one would expect to find a man like Bill Turcotte.
Relationships: Jake Epping/Bill Turcotte
Kudos: 17





	how to stop an assassination (and all the ways it can ruin your life)

The institution was a dreary place, the polar opposite of where one would expect to find a man like Bill Turcotte. 

It wasn’t just the low mumbling of the patients that unsettled Jake, it was the simultaneous movement and stillness - both alive and subdued. 

“You brought him here?” Sadie asked quietly, avoiding eye contact with anyone there but Jake.

“I just thought-”

“Mister Amberson,” the head doctor greeted. “I was wondering when you’d come to inquire about your brother’s treatment.”

“I’m actually here to sign him out,” Jake replied, glancing back at Sadie.

“That’s good - he’s improved greatly on the electroshock therapy. He’s a very pleasant young man.”

An imperceivable shift in Jake’s expression - clearly disgust, but whether it was for himself or the doctor or himself, Sadie wasn’t entirely sure.

“There he is,” the doctor continued, waving a hand as Bill was shakily led in.

He looked vacant, so devoid of the wide-eyed liveliness he’d had before their argument. 

“Hey, Bill,” Jake softly greeted, taking a step toward the boy. “We’re going home.”

“To Kentucky?” Bill asked, hope sparking in his blue eyes. 

“Not yet.” There was the disappointment Jake expected. “We have something to do first.” 

A soft ‘oh’ was all he got in response.

Jake put a hand on Bill’s shoulder, and the young man flinched -  _ flinched _ , visibly so, as if Jake’s hands scalded him. 

He was frightened.

Panic surged through Jake at that realization. Of all the things Jake had  _ phenomenally _ fucked up in his life, this very well took grand prize. 

He wouldn’t ever hurt Bill, didn’t he know that? 

Jake stopped that thought in its tracks. He had hurt him, hadn’t he? He’d taken him away from his home, involved him in an absolutely dangerous mission, had forced him to not interfere when Marina had been hurt, which had undoubtedly brought up memories of his sister, Clara - how had he ever fooled himself into thinking he did anything but hurt him?

“Can we have a moment alone?” Jake asked, not looking away from the doctor. “Please.”

Jake didn’t look away from Bill until the doctor was gone, not daring to touch him again. 

“I was in the hospital,” he said softly. “I don’t remember who it was or what we were after, can you tell me?”

A long silence passed, Bill’s eyes growing wider with every passing second. “No, that’s not real.”

“Bill,” Jake said gently. “You’re my friend, We did all of this together.”

“No, men don’t come from the future, that’s all in my head-”

“That was real, Bill.”

“Healthy people don’t talk about things like that,” Bill whispered. “I put all of that away.”

“Please,” Jake continued, trying to take hold of the young man’s wrist. “You’re my partner, Bill, I need you to be my friend.”

“If I was your friend,” Bill said in a low voice, his gaze anywhere but Jake’s face. “Why did you do this to me?”

That wasn’t a question he was ready to answer.

So he wouldn’t be the other shooter? So he wouldn’t get closer to Oswald and Marina? So he didn’t change the past like Jake had?

All of the reasons he had seemed so foolish and outlandish looking back.

“These are the release papers,” the doctor interrupted, dragging Jake’s attention away from Bill. “There’s also the question of payment, but that can be handled downstairs-”

Jake wasn’t sure what made him turn around. It was something slight, maybe the way he heard Sadie sharply inhale as if preparing to shout. 

Bill was settling on the window sill, about to push himself off. 

Jake wasn’t sure he’d ever crossed a room so quickly, just managing to get a handful of Bill’s shirt and drag him back into the doctor’s office. 

The blond struggled, trying his best to get out of Jake’s grasp.

“Stop it- stop it, let me go!”

“No,” Jake said firmly. “We’re going home, and we’re looking after you because we love you, alright?”

Bill looked so defeated that Jake’s heart ached.

~*~

Bill was to stay with Simmons while Sadie and Jake stopped the attack - not like Bill would protest, surely, but the look on Bill’s face when they left broke Jake’s heart. 

He wanted no part of the mission, and Jake didn’t blame him, but he wouldn’t have allowed him to come with anyway. He was still… He wasn’t the same. 

Bill didn’t come to greet him when he came to get him. Jake didn’t fault him for that, especially not given that betrayed look when he’d left. 

He felt worse coming back without Sadie, not sure how to face Simmons either. The man had loved her like a daughter. 

But he didn’t have to face him yet. All the man had done was dismissively gesture toward the stairs. 

“Hasn’t left the bedroom since you two left,” the principal said quietly. “He’s angry.”

The walk up those stairs had felt like an eternity, dread pooling in his stomach at the thought of facing Bill again, especially when he was hurt. 

Jake slowly pushed the ajar door open fully, taking in Bill’s appearance. The boy was curled up on his side, staring so blankly out the window into the evening. 

“Ready to go home?” he asked quietly, not wanting to startle him.

Bill barely reacted, no sign he heard what Jake said, save for the way his eyes flickered over to him.

“Don’t make me carry you out,” Jake weakly tried to joke. “Come on, Bill.”

The blond’s eyes narrowed, getting up in silence.

“Bill…”

“Don’t,” he immediately said. “Just don’t, Jake.”

~*~

Bill’s change of heart seemed sudden.

He’d been so closed off toward Jake, refusing to let him near. Bill always disappeared into his room when Jake got home, refusing to come out and talk with him. 

It was well over two weeks before Jake looked up from the papers he’d been grading to find Bill lingering in the doorway. 

“What-?”

“Can I sleep in here?” Bill mumbled, blue eyes avoiding Jake’s dark ones. “For tonight?”

Jake felt himself soften and stood up, putting his papers away. “Come here, Bill.”

But he hesitated, a frightened animal sort of look in his eyes. 

Jake dared a step closer, gently taking hold of Bill’s shoulders. “Look at me.”

It took a handful of heartbeats, each passing with growing worry that Bill would turn and bolt, before he dragged his gaze up to meet Jake’s. 

Jake’s hands strayed to the blond’s hips, not following the urge to go further. 

“You’re my friend, Bill,” he said in a low voice, echoing the reassurance he’d given Bill at the hospital. 

Blue eyes immediately flashed to Jake’s face, filled with confusion and a bit of doubt. 

“If I was your friend,” he whispered, echoing his question one more time. “Why did you do this to me?”

“Bill...”

“Answer me.”

“I couldn’t lose you.”

A beat of silence, then Bill shook his head. 

“Just listen to me,” Jake softly insisted. “You know how happy I was when you asked to come along? How sorry I am about doing this? It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done, Bill.”

The blond’s eyes were a bit wild, a bit caged. 

“Fix me, Jake,” he finally whispered. “You can do anything, so fix me.”

“I can’t do anything,” Jake murmured. 

“Yes, you  _ can _ ,” Bill weakly protested. “Please, Jake.  _ Please. _ ”

His heart broke.  _ Shattered _ , really. 

Jake Epping never claimed to be a strong man, so if he was weak and answered Bill’s pleas with a kiss, well… he never claimed to be anything but human.

~*~

Bill’s demeanor changed after that kiss. 

He wasn’t back to how he used to be - snarky, full of piss and vinegar and everything so unpleasant but lovely all the same - but he wasn’t the hollow-eyed, fragile boy he’d gotten out of the asylum either. 

Maybe that was a blessing, even if Jake so bitterly missed the bartender he’d met in Kentucky.

Neither of them talked about the way that Bill shared Jake’s bed now, always curling closer and closer as if he’d never be close enough. 

Neither of them mentioned the time their apartment had been ransacked because a neighbor mistook them for a couple - they didn’t dare voice how dangerous what they were doing was. 

Not until Bill finally spoke his desires. 

“What if I like men?”

“I’d hope you do,” Jake absentmindedly retorted. “You kiss me before I leave every morning.”

“No, shut up, I mean- I mean like…  _ that. _ Like the way guys like the girls in that brothel in Houston. But I wanna be like… those girls, I guess. I want to… I don’t know,” he mumbled, flustered. 

Oh. That was a new idea, albeit one that had crossed Jake’s mind on a handful of occasions. He hadn’t wanted to be the one to say anything, too worried Bill would withdraw again. 

“Is that you asking me to, or is that you explaining why you’ve been spending so much time alone?”

It was meant in jest, but embarrassment flickered over Bill’s face. “I’m not a fucking flit or anything like that, Jake,” he whined, sulking. “I just like how it feels.”

The older of the two set his full attention on Jake. 

“Show me.”

“What?”

“Show me what you like doing.”

For a moment, Jake was worried Bill would leave. His eyes were wide, hesitant, full of wariness. 

“Why don’t you come here and figure it out yourself?”

_ That _ was the Bill he remembered. 

~*~

Jake wouldn’t trade this for anything - Bill, head tilted back, softly whining as Jake rocked his hips back and forth. Part of himself was baffled he hadn’t ever made a move to initiate. Bill had been half delirious when he admitted it, admitting to wanting Jake since that first night. Jake couldn’t get enough of this fucking boy.

Bill’s voice was high - soft and pleading and slurred - and Jake wanted nothing more than to drink in his low sounds. For this to not ever end, not when he had Bill like this, pliant and willing and trusting. 

Bill  _ trusted _ him. 

“Jake?” he mumbled, bordering on delirious. “I’m- think I’m gonna...”

“Not yet,” Jake softly insisted. “I’m almost-“

A high-pitched whine of protest cut him off, letting Jake know exactly how much Bill disliked waiting when he was so close to teetering off the edge. 

“I could stop altogether,” Jake softly threatened, no real bite to his voice. “Behave for me.”

“Can’t, I can’t,” Bill softly panted, keening for more. 

“Just a second, baby,” Jake soothed, running his fingertips along Bill’s cock. He was halfway to incoherent and Jake had neglected to pay that area any attention yet.  _ Fascinating _ .

~*~

After the noise Bill had made - god, they were sure to have noise complaints the next morning - Jake was almost unsettled by how quiet he was after. 

He was silent, content to lay on Jake’s chest and be petted and doted on and loved in any way Jake offered. 

“I don’t ever wanna leave this bed,” Bill finally mumbled, startling Jake out of his doze. 

“Hm?”

“The neighbors are gonna talk. They know no girls have been around since-“

The name went unspoken, but Jake nodded. 

“Let them.”

“You gonna be here to keep me from getting knocked out like last time?” Bill muttered, half dry humor and half genuine worry.

“We’ll find a house,” Jake murmured, toying with Bill’s hair. “Far enough that you can be as loud as you want and nobody ever has to hear it.”

“But you.”

“But me,” Jake agreed. 

~*~

“How come you haven’t gone back to the future?” Bill sleepily mumbled, his face buried in Jake’s chest. “I bet it would be easier.”

“What do you mean?”

“For us.” A beat. “If you wanted to take me with, I mean.”

“I like it here.”

“Bullshit.”

“I  _ do. _ It’s where I found you.”

“You said people like us can get married in the future.”

“Do you even want to get married?”

“I want the  _ possibility _ ,” Bill whined. “We don’t have anything here but getting found out.”

“That won’t happen,” he softly promised. “Go to sleep, Bill.”

The younger softly grumbled, settling closer still as he dozed off in Jake’s lap.

The past didn’t look so bad, not with Bill Turcotte in it. 


End file.
